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As Huzni Markos opens a large commercial oven, the smell of sizzling smokies fills the room. He quickly checks them and then moves on to two massive stock pots filled with macaroni salad.
This is what’s on the lunch menu — along with some desserts, donated bannock and drinks — at the fire evacuee centre on the Prince Albert Exhibition grounds.
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Markos, who owns Selina’s Donair and Pizza, received a call from a member of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation a week ago, asking for help to prepare meals for fire evacuees.
“Right away I called my wife and my kids, and it was just right after school and all of them came to Selina’s and we tried to get as much (sic) meals together as we could, as fast as we could, because we only had literally about an hour and a half to two hour window to come up with 500 meals,” he recalled.
Macaroni salad and smokies are served for lunch to hundreds of evacuees from northern Saskatchewan. (Lara Fominoff/650 CKOM)
Markos not only delivered, but since then, he and a team of four additional chefs and volunteers have been working out of a small commercial kitchen on the fairgrounds, preparing hundreds of meals every day.
“We try to help. This could happen to anyone and as a small business owner, I figured that the right thing to do is give back to the community,” he said.
Markos arrives at the kitchen every day around 7 a.m. and doesn’t leave until 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. each night. He hasn’t worked in his own restaurant for the last week.
“It’s long hours preparing, coming up with a menu for the next day for them, something that meets their needs, right, and try to work with what people have donated,” he said.
Huzni Markos in the kitchen oversees the servings for the day’s lunch. (Lara Fominoff/650 CKOM)
About 40 meals are prepped and served at a time, and with new evacuees from La Ronge, anywhere from 500 to 700 meals are served for each breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Half of the meals prepared are delivered to local hotels for people who don’t have transportation.
“It’s huge, but nothing we can’t do. We just go with the flow,” Markos said.
There’s no real break during the day for Markos and his team of four. As soon as one meal is completed, preparation for the next one begins.
“The kitchen is amazing. (There is) lots of room. If we got 1,000 people right now, we’ll have enough food for them,” he said.
Markos said he’ll continue to work to help people for as long as he can, which could be another month. His family is also supportive of his efforts.
The evacuation centre not only provides meals three times a day for any and all evacuees, but also hair cutting services, clothing and personal essentials, and even entertainment and games for young children.
